Heart of a Dragon
by TheSilverboar
Summary: This is a Joey centered story beginning at the very end of Duelist Kingdom but really picking up in Battle City. (I can't think of a good summary but the first chapter helps make sense, at least partially, of the idea of the story)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: In the Original Yugioh Joey was always my favorite Character because he was just so much fun to watch from his duels to his reactions…although I will admit that the accent can get annoying at times (And I have a plan on how to get rid of it in the story so sorry folks, on real Brooklyn Rage for you). Plus his main card, Red Eyes, is one of my favorites. I never liked how he was continuously given the short stick in the show so this is my way of making up for it. In the original plan for this story he was going to be paired with Mai but in this one it will be with an OC who is like the Red Eyes equivalent of that Blue Eyes girl Kisara.**

Heart of a Dragon (Working Title)

Chapter 1

-Joey-

-Duelist Kingdom: Night that Yugi beat Pegasus-

Sighing he continued doing a final sweep of his room to make sure he had everything as the boat Pegasus chartered to take them back wouldn't be arriving until the morning. While he wasn't happy about the wait he did find it amusing seeing Kaiba get pissed off about the delay as well, the rich pain in the ass not able to leave on his own due to all of the private Kaiba Corp jets being given tune ups or repairs. Just as he was finishing and preparing to go to bed he heard someone knocking on his door causing him to sigh before walking over, wondering if it was Tristan, or Yugi, or even Mai but to his surprise it was Pegasus standing on the other side of the door.

"What do you want Pegasus?" he asked, trying to remain neutral as while he was still pissed at the creator of Duel Monsters he had seen a pain in the man's eyes… a pain that he had seen before in his own father's eyes. They were the eyes of a man who's lost all hope of being reunited with the woman that they loved.

"I felt the need to inform you that your Apartment Building burned down during the tournament so that you weren't caught off guard tomorrow." Pegasus said neutrally and he could see that the man was trying not to break down. Thinking back he realized that this look had been in the man's eyes earlier as well while during the tournament there had only been desperation.

"Why did you do it Pegasus?" he asked as he took a couple steps back and sat on the edge of his bed "Why did you go to all of this trouble to collect the 'Millennium Items'? What was the point of doing this to everyone?".

At his question Pegasus blinked in surprise before sighing and stepping inside, the old man collapsing into one of the armchairs before explaining "I…I wanted to be able to see my wife again." Pegasus explained "We married young and I was never happier than when I held her in my arms but shortly after we wed, before we could even begin to try and have a family of our own, she grew deathly ill and was taken from me. I spent years travelling the world, looking for some way to bring her back to me and that is how I met a man named Shadi…and gained my Millennium Eye.".

As he listened he noticed the man's hand unconsciously twitch towards the eye covered by hair but decided not to comment, "When I received the eye I had a vision of my wife, my Celia, and I knew that if I wanted to truly bring her back I would need all seven of the Items. So I created the game of Duel Monsters, knowing that the bearers of the items would be drawn to the game, and set up this tournament to bring them here. When I began down this road…I never intended for things to turn out like this, to do the things I've done…maybe it's a good thing I lost the eye.".

"Wait what?" he asked in shock "You lost the Millennium eye?".

"After my duel with Yugi someone came up to my study," Pegasus explained, the old man parting his hair to reveal an empty eye socket "they overpowered me and took the eye. The trauma of having the eye ripped out of my skull, and my head hitting the floor afterwards, blacked out part of my memory so I can't remember who did it.".

"What now?" he asked as he leaned back against the headboard of the bed, studying the broken man in front of him and, instead of feeling anger, he felt only pity for the old game maker.

"I don't know," Pegasus explained with a sigh "I honestly want to try and make amends for everything I've done, maybe earn a place with my wife in the next world, but I'm scared of falling back to the way I've been.".

"The answer to that's simple," he said with a shrug as Pegasus looked at him in surprise "all you need is a Minder. Someone who you know won't hesitate to knock some sense into you if they feel like you're heading down that path again and won't go down their themselves.".

At his words Pegasus looked thoughtful before staring at him intently, "Would you be willing to take that job Joseph?" the man asked as he blinked in shock at the offer.

"Me?" he asked in shock "You want me to be your minder?".

"You clearly feel no hesitation in telling me where I go wrong," Pegasus justified with a wry smile as he chuckled himself at the piece of logic "and…well I trust you Joseph. I saw the reason why you fought as hard as you did and I admired it. Now, let's discuss a contract for the terms of your employment.".

For the next few hours he stayed up talking with Pegasus, going over the terms of their agreement and what his duties would be as well as what his pay would be. "Okay," Pegasus said as the finished their negotiations "let me just make sure that I have this right. Your duties are to be travelling with me when I go on long term business trips to keep an eye on me and you are to be flown out here one weekend a month, or more, to make sure I don't relapse as well as frequently calling and sending emails to keep track of my mental state. In return I shall purchase a new property for you in Domino City, you shall have a monthly salary, and free room and board both when you're on the island and when you're on the business trip with me. Along with that I'm going to provide a few rare cards for you from time to time as a bonus.".

"That sounds about right." he said with a nod as Pegasus sighed and got up.

"Get some sleep Joseph," Pegasus instructed "I'll have one of my employees write up the contract as well as get the deed to a property for you and have it here in the morning when you wake up.".

"Alright boss." he said with a yawn as he just lay on the covers, hearing the door click shut before he drifted off to sleep. The next morning, just as Pegasus had promised, he found a metal briefcase waiting for him as he clicked it open and saw the property deed to a small building in Domino City which had an apartment over an auto body garage where he could work on cars and bikes, the topic having come up in idle conversation the previous evening.

Smiling faintly at the property details he read he slipped the keys to the building into his pocket and flipped through the contract before noticing the time and slipped it back and the case. Slipping on his jacket he walked downstairs, case in hand, as he saw the others assembled outside the castle. "What's that Joey?" Yugi asked, his shorter friend noticing the case instantly.

"A contract and a property deed." He said simply as Kaiba began to eye him warily.

"A contract for what Mutt?" Kaiba demanded.

Normally he would have exploded at the rich pain in the ass insulting him like that but he was still exhausted from staying up to negotiate with Pegasus the night before so he simply ignored the rich fool and kept walking towards the boat as Kaiba blinked in shock and audibly growled which he filled away for later about new ways to rile the Blue Eyes user up.

"Seriously though Joey," Tristan asked him, his friend grinning at Kaiba's expression "what is with the contract thing? And the property deed?".

"The property deed is the easiest," he said with a sigh "during the tournament my apartment complex burned down. The deed is to a small apartment with a mechanic garage in Domino City.".

"And the contract?" Tea asked warily.

"Pegasus came to me last night," he explained as he boarded the ship and leaned against a wall "he had originally intended to simply give me a warning about my apartment being gone so I could find a new place but it ended up with us talking about why he had done all this shit and, while I don't agree with what he did…I can understand it.".

"What?!" Kaiba yelled "You actually support-".

"Kaiba!" he yelled as everyone blinked in shock at his forceful yell "I said I didn't agree with it, just that I understood it. Simple answer is that Pegasus went kinda crazy over the years, trying to bring back someone in his life who was as important to him, if not more so, than Mokuba is to you or to old Man Moto is to Yugi.".

"Who?" Yugi asked wide eyed as Kaiba processed the new information.

"His wife," he said with a sigh "they died shortly after being married and he thought if he could get the seven artifacts, like his eye and your puzzle, he could bring her back to life… don't ask me where he got the idea as I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, someone managed to sneak into the castle and ripped his fake eye out, the trauma of the attack and Pegasus hitting his head afterwards damaged the old man's memory of the attacker but it did help him focus and realize the shit he's done over the years. He wants to try and make amends but doesn't want to relapse which is where I come in. He hired me to be his minder, to make sure he doesn't try a stunt like this again.".

"Why you?" Kaiba asked derisively.

"His reasoning was that I had no problem not only telling him when he's doing something stupid but knocking sense into him as well." He said blandly before yawning and standing up. "Well I'm going to go to my cabin. I want to go over the contract and then grab some more shut eye, I was up late negotiating the terms with Pegasus.".

 **AN: Joey will be having some new decks in this story and here are the ones I'm planning to give him:**

 **Dragon Deck**

 **Fiend Deck**

 **Dark Deck**

 **Water Deck**

 **Machine Deck**


	2. Chapter 2

Heart of a Dragon 2

Chapter 2

-Joey-

Grunting he opened the bedroom of his new apartment and dropped his briefcase onto a table, collapsing into a chair as he stifled a yawn. All throughout the boat ride back to Domino the others, apart from Yugi, had been pestering him about his new job with Pegasus as they wanted every single detail. Yugi, thankfully, was willing to let him have some peace after making sure that he actually trusted the deal. "What the…" he muttered as he noticed something off about the briefcase lid before prying back what was apparently a removable panel and found a stack of cards with a note. Shuffling through the cards his eyes went wide as he read the note and laughed happily, oh this was going to be fun.

"You alright there gramps?" he asked as he caught the elderly Motto when the old man started to stumble, the group having just picked Solomon up from the hospital as they were taking him home.

"I'm alright Joseph." Solomon assured him, "I'm just a little stiff.".

"Just promise me you'll take it easy," he asked as he helped right the man who was like a grandpa to the whole group "I'd rather not see your wrinkly old but get sent _back_ to the Hospital.".

"Is that so you whipper snapper?" Solomon Motto asked but he could see the amusement in the old man's eyes "Don't forget that I could school you in a duel any day of the week my young apprentice.".

"Of course Darth Grandpa," he said with a snort "but in the meantime it's bedtime and prune juice for you.".

"Why you little!" Solomon exclaimed before the group dissolved into laughter.

"Hey!" a little voice called up as he turned to see a small blonde girl with a teddy bear standing next to a cart full of luggage, "I've got something to say to you. That is, if you're who you think you are.".

"This is not gonna be good." He muttered, getting a bad feeling from the situation as he wished he had finished his new deck.

"Are you Solomon Motto?" the little girl demanded as she pointed at Gramps who nodded in hesitant confusion.

"I am…and who might you be?".

"Who might I be?" the little girl asked in the 'innocent' voice that conveyed she was pissed "I might be Rebecca, and I might have just arrived here in town, and I might have been waiting for you to show up. It's not nice to keep a lady waiting you know." As she finished she waved her finger chidingly at the group.

"Did you call ahead to let us know you were coming?" he asked as she blinked in surprise "If not then you have no room to complain. And what are you even doing, a little kid like you travelling by yourself. You could get hurt.".

"Well I can take care of myself," the girl said arrogantly "and even still I have Teddy to protect me. Isn't that right Teddy?" she cooed at the bear as he face palmed.

"She's lost it." he whispered to Tristan who grimaced.

"I doubt she even had it to begin with." His friend whispered back.

"Rebecca," Solomon spoke up gently "what is it you even want from me?".

"I want my blue eyes white dragon back!" the girl demanded angrily as she thrust her hand out, "You have my card so give it back to me!".

"There's a slight problem with that." Tea muttered with a wince.

"The Blue Eyes White Dragon is an Ultra Rare and Powerful card that only belongs in the Deck of a True Champion. I, Rebecca, am a True Champion, having beaten many top duelists while you were away." The little girl spoke up with a cocky smirk.

"You aren't even in the top ten little girl," he said with a snort before turning to Solomon, ignoring the outraged brat "can I borrow your phone gramps? I think we should call child services to take the delusional little girl away.".

"How dare you?!" Rebecca yelled, stamping her foot in outrage, "Just because you got second place in Duelist Kingdom doesn't mean anything as first place is the only place that matters.".

"Do you know nothing about the international ranking systems kid?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and, when he saw even his own friends staring at him in confusion, he sighed and reached into his satchel, pulling out his laptop as he set it up on the wall and pulled up a page. "Industrial Illusions keeps a list online of the top one hundred duelists in the world at any given time." He explained as he pulled up the list, "And since Duelist Kingdom It's been updated. Yugi here's ranked number one, as one would expect, but Pegasus his placed myself as number two in the world, himself at three, Mai Valentine at four, Bandit Keith at five, Seto Kaiba at six, Weevil Underwood at seven, Rex Raptor at eight, Mako Tsunami at nine, and the Paradox brothers share slot number ten. If you're the Rebecca I'm thinking of then you're ranked fourteen behind Ethan Shark, Vivian Wong, and Balfry Ginger.".

"He placed you above himself?" Tristan asked in surprise "I figured that you would be place number three if they did something like this as you lost to Yugi and didn't' duel Pegasus.".

"Hey don't ask me, I don't make the list." He shrugged before closing the laptop and turned back to the fuming little girl "Now are you going to behave or are you going to leave?" he asked with an uncaring shrug.

"I demand the right to duel for my card!" the girl yelled.

"On what grounds?" he asked irritated "Gramps here got that card decades before you were born and all you've done is demand his property. What could you possibly offer to make that a fair bet?".

"My entire deck!" the girl said haughtily "Now duel me you coward!".

Growling he turned to his mentor, "Gramps," he said seriously as his teacher looked back at him "let me take this one and teach this little brat a lesson in the heart of the cards as well as real life. I promise that I won't let you down.".

Solomon was silent for a moment before nodding, "I trust you Joey." Solomon said "Show her the truth behind the heart of the cards.".

An hour and a half later he stood inside one of the Kaiba Land Duel Rings, Mokuba having pulled some strings to get them in while the two Kaiba brothers sat at the top of the arena to watch the duel or, as Seto put it, 'massacre'. "Nice Duel Arena," Rebecca sneered "a bit small though.".

"Hey brat," he called out from his platform "get into your duel tower already or do you need time for your afternoon nap with 'Teddy'?".

At that comment Rebecca growled angrily "It doesn't matter how you're ranked internationally this is still pathetic you against genius me so you don't stand a chance!" Rebecca yelled before she jumped into her duel tower. "I'll start out by summoning witch of the Black Forest in attack mode!" **(Attack: 1100, Defense: 1200)** Rebecca called out as the monster appeared and he had to resist sighing in exasperation at the move.

"You done yet?" he asked bored as she growled but nodded, "Then allow me to show you a real opening move! I know you only summoned that card to use its ability after it was destroyed but is it really worth loosing thirteen hundred life points? I summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon to the field in attack mode!" **(Attack: 2400, Defense: 2000)**.

"What?!" Rebecca yelled wide eyed as his dragon rose up with a fearsome screech.

"Inferno fire blast!" he called out as the crimson orb of destructive power blew apart Rebecca's witch and over half of the girl's life points.

"My move!" Rebecca snarled angrily "And when my Witch is destroyed then I get to add another monster with fifteen hundred or less defense from my deck to my hand and I'll choose my Sangan before summoning him in defense mode!" **(Attack: 1000, Defense: 600)**.

"And when Sangan is destroyed you can add a monster with fifteen hundred or less attack to your hand," he said with a small snort "you done?".

"Yes." Rebecca growled "You just wait, I'll beat you in this duel and then I'll sick Teddy on you!".

"I summon the Flame Swordsman!" **(Attack: 1800, 1600)** he called out "And attack your Sangan with my Dragon!".

With a screech his dragon once again blew apart the girl's monster as she yelled in shock, "That's it, no mo playing around!" the girl yelled as she took a card from her deck "Thanks to Sangan's ability I can add one monster with fifteen hundred or less attack from my deck to my hand and I choose my Millennium Shield and I summon it in Defense Mode!" **(Attack: 0, Defense: 3000)**.

"My go then!" he called out "And I'll play the spell card Double Summon to give me two summonings this turn! I'll use them to bring out Swamp Battleguard **(Attack: 1800, Defense: 1500)** and Lava Battleguard **(Attack: 1550, Defense: 1800)** , each one gaining five hundred attack points with the other on the field.".

"It doesn't matter," Rebecca sniffed disdainfully "none of them can go up against my Millennium Shield.".

"Not quite," he said with a smirk "I play the spell card Shield and Sword to switch the attack and defense points of every monster in play for this turn before destroying your shield with my Red Eyes!".

"No!" Rebecca screamed as the shield shattered. "Fine then!" Rebecca yelled "I'll play dark hole to destroy every monster on the field!".

"No!" he heard Tristan and Tea yell in panic while he remained stone faced at the move, silently thanking his monsters as he moved them to the Graveyard.

"Joseph," Solomon spoke up as he looked over to see the grinning old Motto "I can tell you're planning something so make it count.".

"It doesn't matter what he plans because without that Red Eyes he's worthless!" Rebecca called out cheerfully "Now I'll play my own double summon to bring out my Cannon Soldier **(Attack: 1400, Defense: 1300)** and my Shadow Ghoul **(Attack: 1600, Defense: 1300)** which gains one hundred attack points for every monster in my Graveyard!" **(Shadow Ghoul new attack: 1900)**

"My move then," he said calmly as he drew before smirking as he decided to play one of the cards he had gotten from Pegasus and another he had gotten from Rex along with Red Eyes "and I'll start out…by summoning my second Red Eyes Black Dragon!".

"Second one?!" Rebecca yelled in shock, a sentiment that was shared by his friends and the Kaiba brothers.

"That's right," he smirked as his fearsome dragon rose up with a screech to avenge the first fallen red eyes "and then I'll give her a little manicure with the spell card dragon nails which will raise her attack by six hundred points. Now, Red Eyes, wipe out that cannon solider!". With a fearsome screech the red eyes fired and destroyed the monster, taking away the last of Rebecca's life points as the duel holograms faded away, "Thanks Red Eyes." He said to the card with a grin, sure he could hear a screeching roar returned in kind.

"I don't care that I lost!" Rebecca yelled before running over to Solomon "I demand my card back right now!".

"Rebecca that's enough!" a stern, disappointed, voice called out as a tall elderly man walked in "I am very disappointed in your behavior.".

"G-grandpa?" the shocked girl as she stared at the man.

"Hello Arthur," Solomon said with a smile while walking over "it's good to see you my old friend.".

"Likewise Solomon old friend." The tall man said happily "And would I be correct in guessing that you trained that young man who just dueled my misbehaving granddaughter?".

"Yes I did," Solomon said proudly "I've only trained Joseph and my grandson Yugi but now they're ranked as the top two duelists in the world and I couldn't be prouder!".

"B-but grandpa," Rebecca said wide eyed "that man stole the Blue Eyes.".

"No he didn't Rebecca and I don't know where you got such a ludicrous idea." Arthur Hawkins said with a frown before telling them all the story about the dig in Egypt where the two old timers had met and where Solomon had saved Arthur Hawkins' life. "And so I gave him my Blue Eyes white Dragon as a sign of our friendship." Arthur explained to them all, "And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my granddaughter home. It would seem that I still have much to teach her.".

After shaking hands with the man he and the others watched as the two Hawkins family members drove off, "While Arthur may still have more to teach his granddaughter I can't think of much more I can teach you Joseph," Solomon spoke up "you have truly become an excellent duelist and an excellent man.".

"Thanks Gramps," he said with a smile as he shook hands with his mentor "that means a lot to me.".

"Why I think this calls for us to all go out and celebrate!" Solomon said happily, the old man thrusting his arm up into the air before groaning and doubling over at a cracking sounds.

"How about you celebrate at home in bed with some prune juice?" he suggested as they all laughed happily and helped the old Motto back to the card shop.

 **AN: Okay everyone as you can probably tell from this chapter I really don't like Rebecca all that much so sorry if you're a fan of her. Anyway, next chapter is going to take place a couple weeks before Battle City and will be a few months after this chapter is set (don't worry, what happens will be explained in flashback) and you'll also get to meet Joey's love interest so later everybody!**


End file.
